With more than 20 years of experience leading complex hospitality, entertainment, mixed-use, residential, and commercial projects across the United States and internationally, Emir Tursic serves as Managing Director of HKS Salt Lake City, where he leads the office and its Hospitality practice.

Emir has built a diverse portfolio that spans transformative destination resorts, luxury mountain communities, lifestyle hotels, private clubs, entertainment venues high-rise residential developments, and complex healthcare facilities. His experience includes iconic hospitality projects in Las Vegas and the Wasatch Mountains, proton cancer treatment centers in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, and many of the hospitality, entertainment, and mixed-use developments that are helping redefine downtown Salt Lake City's urban landscape.

Known for combining strategic thinking with design excellence, Emir believes that architecture is most successful when it balances purpose, experience, and long-term value. He is passionate about creating places that strengthen communities, elevate the guest experience, and deliver meaningful business outcomes for clients.

Houston Deck is a Florida native with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Performance and a Master’s degree in Exercise Science. Growing up playing soccer, he developed an early fascination with the preparation side of sport and how athletes can be developed to perform at their best. That passion has led to nearly a decade of experience in strength and conditioning across organizations including Orlando City Soccer Club, Barcelona Residency Soccer Academy, Grand Canyon University, and Sun Valley Ski Academy. He currently serves as a High Performance Specialist with U.S. Ski & Snowboard, supporting athletes and coaches across high-performance sport.

Ryan Mack serves as Chief Communications & Experience Officer at Visit Salt Lake, where he leads the organization's communications strategy, stakeholder engagement, destination storytelling, and experience development for Salt Lake County's visitor economy. As a member of the executive leadership team, he works across media relations, public affairs, government relations, travel trade, and proprietary events to advance VSL's mission and long-term competitiveness as a destination.

When he's not working to tell Salt Lake's story, Ryan can be found on the slopes, the golf course, or a river chasing fish. He lives in Salt Lake with his wife Ella and their two dogs.

Tunisha Brown is the founder and publisher of IMPACT Magazine, a Black-owned media platform dedicated to examining the structures shaping Black life, leadership, wealth, power, and legacy. What began in 2007 as a local publication serving her hometown of Trenton, New Jersey, has evolved into a national editorial platform reaching thousands of readers through structural analysis, investigative storytelling, and original programming.

As Editor-in-Chief, Brown has redefined IMPACT’s editorial mission around a simple belief: journalism should not only report what happened, it should help people understand why it happened. Under her leadership, the publication has expanded beyond traditional media to include recurring editorial series such as Black Faces in High Spaces, Unmuted Reads, Unmuted Leadership, and Thinking Unmuted, each designed to examine contemporary issues through historical context and institutional analysis.

Beyond publishing, Brown is building an educational ecosystem rooted in what she calls Building From Truth, the practice of examining the systems that shape society while documenting the lessons required to build institutions that outlast individuals. Through public conversations, live seminars, and original writing, she challenges audiences to move beyond reaction and toward deeper understanding.

Throughout her career, Brown has interviewed and featured influential voices including Tabitha Brown, David Banner, Anthony Hamilton, Garcelle Beauvais, Angie Stone, Kandi, and Karen Civil, while creating platforms that have honored entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, educators, and community leaders across the country. Her work has earned recognition from organizations including the AAMBC Literary Awards, Citibank, JP Morgan, and Utah Business Magazine.

At the center of Brown’s work is one conviction: lasting change begins when people learn to see the structures beneath the headlines, and choose to build something different.

Stan Kozlowski has spent more than 25 years doing one thing exceptionally well: getting hotel deals done. As founder and principal of CooperWynn Capital, he has closed over 80 transactions representing more than $2.5 billion in volume — spanning acquisitions, ground-up development, complex restructurings, senior and mezzanine debt, private equity placements, and strategic asset sales.

Before launching CooperWynn, Stan built his expertise across a remarkably diverse array of firms that touched nearly every corner of the hospitality capital markets. From institutional private equity at Glenmont Capital Management and investment banking at CBRE Hotels Finance, to co-founding his own boutique at Forestpark Capital Advisors and serving as a principal at Neptune Hospitality Advisors — with earlier stops at HVS International, Sonnenblick-Goldman, Hotel Partners, and Insignia ESG — Stan has seen this business from virtually every angle.

Over the course of his career, Stan has worked on transactions that span the full breadth of the industry: development financing for the Courtyard Chelsea in Manhattan, restructuring the Le Meridien Cancun, asset management of the Waldorf Astoria in Park City, ground-up development of three My Place Hotels across Arizona and Idaho, over $103 million in financing for Pinnacle Hotels USA, and mezzanine construction debt on the Residence Inn
San Diego — among many others. Stan is a Cornell School of Hotel Administration graduate with a concentration in real estate and finance, and a licensed real estate broker in Utah. He lives and works in Park City, where CooperWynn continues to close deals in markets across all 50 states and the Caribbean.

LaChell Talley is a senior hospitality executive with nearly 20 years of progressive leadership experience in luxury spa, wellness, and retail operations. She currently serves as Director of Spa at Waldorf Astoria Park City, overseeing spa, wellness, retail, and recreation as a member of the hotel’s Executive Committee. Her career spans leadership roles at The Grand America Hotel, Montage Deer Valley, and Sundance Mountain Resort, where she developed deep expertise in operational excellence, financial stewardship, and team development. Under her leadership, the Waldorf Astoria Park City spa achieved Forbes Four-Star Spa designation.

Growing up in Arizona, Maddie Heywood was always drawn to bringing people together. Inspired by her mom's event planning skills, she quickly became the go-to person for planning gatherings with friends. Her passion for creating memorable experiences first took shape in culinary school during high school, where she discovered food, atmosphere, and details could come together to make something special. Maddie carried that passion to her studies at Utah Valley University, earning a degree in Hospitality Management with a Minor in Event Planning and interning at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah. Graduating in the midst of 2020's challenges, she persevered and grew into an Event Manager role working with all different clients who would do a variety of different events. In late 2022 she decided to switch things up and got a position at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi. There, she contributed to major public events such as Luminaria, the Tulip Festival, and Garden of Quilts. Today, as Director of Event Operations at Thanksgiving Point, Maddie oversees multiple departments and leads the execution of private events ranging from weddings to corporate gatherings--she calls it being a manager of chaos.

Maddie has been in Utah for 10 years now - she enjoys traveling, seeing any Broadway show, being in the desert of Arizona, and checking off items on her 30 before 30 list - including watching a baseball game in all 30 MLB Stadiums.

Mauricio Lopez is the Executive Chef at Asher Adams, an Autograph Collection Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, where he oversees all culinary operations, including restaurants, bars, banquets, catering, and in-room dining. Throughout his 16+ years in hospitality, he has grown through a variety of leadership roles in luxury hotels and resorts, developing expertise in culinary operations, food and beverage management, financial performance, guest experience, and team leadership.

Mauricio's journey in hospitality began in El Salvador, where he discovered a passion for cooking and dreamed of becoming a professional chef. Pursuing that dream brought him to the United States, where he worked his way up through the industry, learning from great mentors and embracing every opportunity to grow. That experience has shaped his leadership philosophy and serves as a reminder of the value of hard work, perseverance, humility, and continuous learning. Beyond an incredible career, Mauricio is proud of the people he has worked alongside, and the teams that they have built together to create meaningful experiences for guests and communities.

Today, Mauricio leads a culinary program that supports more than $14 million in annual food and beverage revenue while serving a diverse range of guests, from local diners and hotel visitors to corporate executives, VIPs, celebrities, and professional sports teams, including organizations from the NBA, NHL, MLS, collegiate athletics, and national teams. This role extends beyond the kitchen, partnering closely with hotel leadership to create innovative dining concepts, identify new revenue opportunities, and deliver experiences that reflect the unique character of each property and the local community.

While Mauricio is passionate about food, what drives him the most is people. He firmly believes that great hospitality starts with great teams. Throughout his career, he has taken tremendous pride in building strong, engaged, and accountable teams where individuals feel supported, challenged, and empowered to grow. Some of his greatest accomplishments are not the menus he created or the events he led, but the leaders he developed along the way.

Mauricio believes your team members are your most valuable asset. When you invest in people, provide them with the right tools, and create a culture built on trust, accountability, and respect, they create exceptional experiences for every guest. Every memorable meal, successful event, and positive guest interaction is the result of a dedicated team working together toward a common goal.